"Allow me to present your Ladyship with one of my papers!" he said courteously.
"And allow me to thank you for it!" interposed Aunt Cheerful gently.
Again the boy raised his tattered cap and smiled, a grave little smile for all its brightness.
"Good night, Lady Cheerful!" he said.
"Good night, Lord Chesterfield and remember—any time your bachelor life grows too lonely—"
But Lord Chesterfield was off into the shadows of the dripping lane, whistling as cheerily as a robin.
Aunt Cheerful turned to the mystified guest at her fireside.
"Oh, my dear," she exclaimed gratefully, "how very tactful of you to make no sound. The presence of a stranger would have confused him so! Just a little game we play each night, Lord Chesterfield and I—"
"What a dear little lad he is!" exclaimed Jean.